Fire hazard forces Toshiba laptop recall

Sep 03, 2010

A customer checks Japanese electronics giant Toshiba notebook computers at an electronics shop in Tokyo in 2009. Japanese electronics maker Toshiba has recalled 41,000 laptop computers worldwide because of a fire risk, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said.

Japanese electronics maker Toshiba has recalled 41,000 laptop computers worldwide because of a fire risk, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said.

"The notebook computers can overheat at the notebook's plug-in to the AC adapter, posing a burn hazard to consumers," the commission said in a notice issued Thursday.

The computers involved are the Satellite T135, Satellite T135D and Satellite ProT130.

The safety commission said that Toshiba has received 129 reports of the computers overheating and deforming the plastic casing area around the AC adapter plug.

It said there had been two reports of minor burn injuries and two reports of minor property damage.

Toshiba offered a software program for download at laptops.toshiba.com/about/consumer-notices.

The program detects whether the computer is overheating and disables its external power.

In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and other international safety authorities, Apple is voluntarily recalling certain lithium ion rechargeable batteries that were sold worldwide ...